I have a question. You may have noticed that El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago got himself slapped with a personalized gag order on Tuesday by Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over his hush-money trial in New York City. From the AP:
“Given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount,” Merchan wrote in a four-page decision granting the prosecution’s request for what it deemed a “narrowly tailored” gag order. The judge said the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s statements have induced fear and necessitated added security measures to protect his targets and investigate threats.
The former president*, in a galaxy-brained gambit, went after Judge Merchan's daughter, a Democratic political consultant, dreaming up a conspiracy involving the judge, his daughter, and Congressman Adam Schiff. Needless to say, the judge was not charmed by this.
Merchan said he reviewed Trump’s public statements in his other cases as he decided whether to impose restrictions. “These extrajudicial statements went far beyond defending himself against ‘attacks’ by ‘public figures,’” Merchan wrote. “Indeed, his statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating, and the targets of his statements ranged from local and federal officials, court and court staff, prosecutors and staff assigned to the cases, and private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty,” the judge wrote. Merchan said that he felt he had to go further than a previous order that jurors’ names and identifying information can’t be publicly released. “While the protective order related to juror anonymity prevents the dissemination of certain personal information, it is not sufficient to prevent extrajudicial speech targeting jurors and exposing them to an atmosphere of intimidation,” the judge wrote.
My question is this: does the gag order also cover the former president*'s newest occupation, traveling Bible salesman? From the Washington Post:
“Happy Holy Week!” Trump’s post said. “Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible.” He tagged musician Lee Greenwood in the post because the “God Bless the USA” singer is also touted as an endorser on the product’s webpage. The promoted Bible has not only the standard books, but also a few additions including the Constitution (“which I’m fighting for every single day very hard,” Trump says in a video attached to the post), the Pledge of Allegiance and, as the webpage touts, the “[h]andwritten chorus to ‘God Bless The USA’ by Lee Greenwood.” It was originally slated for release in 2021, but an outcry from a number of prominent Christians derailed the rollout.
First of all, nobody says "Happy Holy Week." Holy Week is a series of increasingly somber services, culminating in Good Friday, which commemorates Christ's execution. (Old-school altar boys like me remember the annual Good Friday services as both interminable and incredibly antisemitic, but not in any way celebratory.) Second, if it were up to me, I would deny Lee Greenwood a place in the canon, the way the folks in Nicaea gave the boot to the Gospel of Mary. I also believe that attempting to extend the gag order over his new gig is a terrible violation of his First Amendment rights of both free speech and the free exercise of pretending to have some religion. Or, in the words of Big Dan Teague, the Coen Brothers' traveling Bible salesman played by John Goodman.
Bible sales? Now the trade is not a complicated one. There are but two things to learn. One bein' where to find a wholesaler - the Word of God in bulk as it were. Two, how to recognize your customer. Who are you dealin' with? It's an exercise in psychology, so to speak.
He certainly knows his customers. Suckers.
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.
